BORDER PATROL IS CAGING MIGRANTS OUTDOORS DURING DEADLY ARIZONA HEATWAVE – By Ryan Devereaux (The Intercept) / July 21, 2023
Photos taken by The Intercept show dozens of people trapped with little shade in a lethal desert.
THE U.S. BORDER PATROL is holding migrants in an outdoor pen in a deadly stretch of the Arizona desert amid a record-setting heatwave, photos taken by The Intercept reveal.
On Thursday afternoon, The Intercept observed roughly 50 migrants confined in a chain-link pen at the Ajo Border Patrol station, a highly remote outpost two hours west of Tucson. From a ridge overlooking the Border Patrol’s facility, the migrants could be seen gathered under a carport-like structure, crowding themselves into a single, narrow strip of shade to escape the desert sun. The only furniture available was a short stack of metal bleachers baking in the extreme heat.
Just one day earlier, Tucson set a new record with 11 consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 111 degrees. The unincorporated community of Ajo and surrounding areas have been even hotter, with Thursday’s high hitting 114 degrees.
Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, did not respond to questions concerning its Ajo holding pen by publication time.
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